Supreme Court backs Trump for now on fired probationary federal employees

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration several thousands of probationary federal employees it is attempting to fire off the payroll while lower courts weigh whether the downsizing efforts were legal, another win for the White House in recent days.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to keep several thousand probationary federal employees it is attempting to fire off the payroll while lower courts weigh whether the downsizing efforts are legal, another win for the White House in recent days. The Supreme Court’s decision blocks a ruling from a lower court judge that required the government to reinstate more than 16,000 probationary employees. The decision is not the final word on whether the employees will be allowed to keep their jobs, but it will have a significant impact on both the workers and the agencies in the meantime. Two liberal justices – Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson – publicly dissented. The full implications of the ruling are not clear given that a federal judge in Maryland earlier this month issued a preliminary injunction that reinstated some of the employees not covered in the case before the Supreme Court.